Abstract
Production of cuticular hydrocarbons including the female sex pheromone cis,cis-7,11 heptacosadiene, was compared in intact and decapitated Drosophila melanogaster. Wild-type adults decapitated just after emergence showed very long-chain cuticular hydrocarbons (31–35 carbons) 3 days later, which are characteristic of young adults. Moreover among long-chain hydrocarbons (23–29 carbons) of decapitated females the sex pheromone level showed a marked decrease accompanied by an increase in monoenes. The quantitative effect strongly depended on the age of decapitation, being maximal when decapitation occurred within the first hour after emergence. Feeding had little influence on pheromone biosynthesis. A cephalic factor—yet to be characterized—seemed to exert the main control. Application of methoprene, a juvenile hormone (JH) analog, resulted in a decrease in very long-chain hydrocarbons in decapitated females but did not enhance the synthesis of sex pheromones. The analysis of mutants deficient in JH production confirmed the role of JH in the cuticular hydrocarbon switch.
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